For Transportation Commission Meeting [September 7, 2022]
TO: Honorable Chairperson and Commission
APPROVAL: Marcus Fuller, City Manager
FROM: Justin Schlaefli, Consultant Engineer, TKE Engineering
Title
Traffic Impact Analysis - Lilac Commerce Center TIA, Lilac Avenue South of Santa Ana Avenue.
(ACTION ITEM)
Body
BACKGROUND:
The Project is proposed to consist of a single 82,958 square foot warehouse building. It is anticipated that the Project would be developed in a single phase with an anticipated Opening Year of 2024. The following driveways will be assumed to provide access to the Project site:
• Driveway 1 on Lilac Avenue - Full Access (passenger cars only)
• Driveway 2 on Lilac Avenue - Full Access (passenger cars and trucks)
Regional access to the Project site is available from the I-10 Freeway via the Riverside Avenue interchange. Exhibit 1-3 depicts the location of the proposed Project in relation to the existing roadway network and the study area intersections.
Based on the trip generation and trip distribution of the proposed project, and based on discussion with City staff, the report analyzed the following intersections for traffic operations:
The first Scoping agreement was submitted in early November 2021. The TIA was submitted multiple times with the most recent report dated August 2022. The third submittal of the TIA was reviewed with a recommendation for approval.
Consistent with City of Rialto Traffic Impact Analysis guidelines, study intersections were identified to include freeway interchanges within two (2) miles that were designated to take more than 40% of total traffic from the project and intersections which Project contributed 50 or more peak hour trips. This included the locations listed above.
This site appears to comply with zoning on the property.
The site location is shown on Page 2 of the TIA, which is included as Attachment 1, while the site plan is shown on Page 4 of the TIA, which is included as Attachment 2.
Truck Turn Templates are on shown on the site plan included as Attachment 3.
Trip generation for the project is based on the City’s guidelines for warehouse projects, which uses rates from the Institute of Transportation Engineers' (ITE) Trip Generation Manual (9th Edition). Land Use 150 “Warehousing” was used to develop the project trip generation. The City requires warehouse projects use a minimum truck rate of 40% of the total project traffic. Further, the City requires that the truck mix for warehousing include 70% 4-axle trucks, 28% 3-axle trucks, and 2% 2-axle trucks. The City Guidelines require projects that anticipate the generation of significant truck traffic convert all truck trips into passenger car equivalents (PCEs). The truck trips were converted to PCEs using the City’s conversion rates of 1.5 for 2-axle trucks, 2.0 for 3-axle trucks and 3.0 for 4+ axle trucks. Table 4-2 from the TIA shows the project trip generation. As shown in Table 4-2, the total project is anticipated to generate 25 total trips during the a.m. peak hour, 26 total trips during the p.m. peak hour, and 300 total daily trips. After converting to PCEs, the project is anticipated to generate 42 PCE trips during the a.m. peak hour, 44 PCE trips during the p.m. peak hour, and 504 daily PCE trips.
A comparison to the most current edition of ITE, Trip Generation (11th Edition) was also completed to ensure a conservative analysis. It was found that trip rates for Land Use 150 “Warehousing” have been reduced slightly in the latest edition. Therefore, the information above is considered slightly conservative.
Trips are shown on Page 38, Table 4-2 of the TIA, which is included as Attachment 4.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
The TIA included cumulative impacts when added to other proposed projects in the area at project intersections in addition to the existing conditions. When cumulative traffic was added the study intersections were found to operate at an acceptable level of service with the exception of three (3) locations as shown below:
The TIA identified improvements at these locations as shown below:
Based on these improvements, the following fair-share contributions are recommended:
The fair-share contributions have been calculated using the above percentages and the cost estimates for interchange improvements as discussed and documented in the TIA. Based on these calculations, it is recommended that the project pay the following fair-share contributions:
• City of Rialto: $7,687
• Caltrans: $6,620
VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED (VMT):
A VMT screening analysis is summarized in the TIA. As discussed in the TIA, VMT is a function of travel volumes multiplied by distance. Therefore, provision of needed services in a community may be found to reduce VMT as patrons have a shorter distance to travel. As such, OPR and SBCTA VMT Guidelines identify that Project types falling under the screening criteria includes the following:
• K-12 Schools
• Local-serving retail less than 50,000 square feet
• Local parks
• Day care centers
• Local serving gas stations
• Local serving banks
• Local serving hotels (e.g. non-destination hotels)
• Student housing Projects on or adjacent college campuses
• Local-serving assembly uses, Community Institutions
• Local serving community colleges
• Affordable or supportive housing, Assisted living facilities, Senior housing
• Projects generating less than 110 daily vehicle trips
The proposed project is not considered a small project and was not screened out based on other project screening criteria. Therefore, a full VMT evaluation was completed and is presented in Section 8.0 of the TIA. The following VMT characteristics apply to this project.
The following VMT reduction measures were evaluated for effectiveness:
• Commute Trip Reduction Marketing
• Ridesharing Program
• End-of-Trip Facilities (Bicycle)
• Employee Parking Cash-Out
Based on the measures above, the following VMT reduction was calculated:
Based on implementation of these VMT reduction measures, the project would reduce VMT to below the City’s significance threshold. This would lead to a significant but mitigated transportation impact under CEQA.
Conclusion
Intersections studied are projected to operate consistent with City of Rialto guidelines without deficiencies except at the two locations as noted in Table 6-1 of the TIA.
Based on these conclusions, it is recommended that the applicant pay applicable development impact fees in addition to a fair-share contribution in the total amount of $14,307. The proposed project would be required to provide frontage and access improvements consistent with City of Rialto standards. Finally, the project would be required to implement VMT reduction measures including the following:
• Commute Trip Reduction Marketing
• Ridesharing Program
• End-of-Trip Facilities (Bicycle)
• Employee Parking Cash-Out
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Staff requests that the Transportation Commission:
• Provide recommendations related to approval.
• Recommend payment of applicable DIF fees.
• Recommend payment of a Fair-share contribution.
• Recommend implementation of a Transportation Demand Management program incorporating the VMT reduction measures listed in the TIA in perpetuity.
• Recommend approval to the Planning Commission.